Home > Flynn Pleads Guilty to 1 Count of Lying to the FBI; He's Cooperating With Mueller

Flynn Pleads Guilty to 1 Count of Lying to the FBI; He's Cooperating With Mueller

Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn ran a gauntlet of reporters as he was escorted into federal court in Washington on Dec. 1, 2017. (Photo: Screen grab/C-SPAN)

(CNSNews.com) – Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was fired last February for giving “incomplete information” to Vice President Mike Pence about his phone calls with the Russian ambassador, and on Friday, he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of lying to the FBI about those same phone calls.

In a statement, Flynn said, "My guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with the Special Counsel's office reflect a decision I made in the best interests of my family and of our country. I accept full responsibility for my actions."

ABC News reported that Flynn plans to "fully cooperate" with Mueller, testifying that Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians.

Court documents note that on or about January 24, 2017, Flynn “did willfully and knowingly make materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations” by “falsely” telling FBI agents:

-- that he did not ask the Russian ambassador, on Dec. 29, to refrain from escalating the situation in response to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on that same day;

-- that he did not recall the Russian ambassador telling Flynn that Russia would moderate its response to Obama's sanctions at Flynn’s request;

-- that Flynn did not ask the Russian ambassador to defeat or delay a vote on a pending U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements – a month before Trump took office. (The U.N. resolution ended up passing when the U.S. abstained.)

Vice President-elect Mike Pence told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on January 15 – five days before the inauguration – that Flynn and the Russian ambassador “did not discuss anything having to do with the United States’ decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia.”

President Donald Trump fired Flynn on February 13 – 18 days after then-Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama appointee, told the Trump White House that Flynn had not been truthful about what he discussed with the Russian ambassador in the late-December phone call.

Yates said Flynn had made himself susceptible to Russian blackmail by lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.

Yates also was fired (in late January) for refusing to defend Trump’s executive order on immigration.